House on High Causes Anger for Neighbors, Problems for City

When David Weaver passed away in early 2016, neighbors probably didn’t expect the chain of events that occurred, causing an eyesore to grow into a major problem for everyone involved.

Once a nice house with little differentiation than its neighbors, this house on West High Street in Circleville now looks far from its place. It sits within walking distance of the Pumpkin Show event that brings hundreds of thousands of people, it is covered in weeds, broken windows, and a promise from the City of Circleville that, eventually, it will be torn down.

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Assigning blame as to who has allowed the building to fall into disrepair is a difficult task which may be why the building has yet to be dealt with. David Weaver’s family didn’t want to deal with the property, which began to fall into disrepair before his death at 74 years of age.

The building then allegedly passed to the savings bank, and then to the fire department, according to the City of Circleville. It now stands with multiple violations posted to the door, warning passersby and would-be trespassers that the building is going to be torn down.

We asked the Pickaway County Commissioners regarding who was responsible and all three had responses stating that their enforcement authority stops at condemning the building. The typical process is [that] the city would request an inspection. After condemning, it would be up to the city legal to take action concerning the title and remedy the problem. According to our research, the city now owns the building and is responsible for remedy.

But for the neighbors, “Going to be” isn’t fast enough. “I can’t even see the rats in the tall grass!” said Marvin and Eunice Payne, neighbors of the shambled property. “Big ones! We thought they were cats!”, an alarming description of the lack of maintenance at the property. The grass has been mowed by a conglomeration of city workers and neighbors fearful of what may lurk behind the weeds. Grass cutting has not been frequent, however, giving way to the creeping sprawl of greenery at the property.

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Local residents have taken to social media for action, with one person utilizing Facebook Live to take their grievances to the internet, stating that her husband had a window from the property strike him during a clean-up project at the building. Social media allegations about the property are also rampant, claiming the house is being used despite government warnings as a den of drugs and housing for some area homeless.

The City of Circleville has stated that the building is expected to be torn down before the end of the year, but the Scioto Post’s calls for comment from the Mayor’s Office were left unanswered as to the exact timing of the demolition. We will update our readers when the eyesore is dealt with, or the city responds to our inquiries.

*Editor’s Update*:

The Mayor has followed up with the Scioto Post and the City of Circleville is researching the title to figure out who is in ownership of it to rectify the building in question.